Garment form retainer



March 21, 1961 SHERBQNDY 2,975,948

GARMENT FORM RETAINER Filed Dec. 21, 1959 INVENTOR FQANK. Y. Susawuo BYWW ATTORNEYS Unit This invention relates to garment form retainingdevices for use with garments having overlapping front panels. Moreparticularly, this invention is an improvement upon the garment formretaining device which is the subject of my United States Patent No.2,641,390 issued June 9, 1953.

Garment form retaining devices of the type presented in the above-citedpatent are adapted to hold the overlapping front panels of a coat in aposition where-one panel is over the other when the coat is placed on ahanger so as to prevent sagging and deformation of the coat. The garmentform retaining devices each comprise a long fiat body for insertionbetween the overlapping front portions of the garment. An elongate flapis connected intermediate one longitudinal edge thereof to the bodyadjacent to, and inwardly from, one end of the body. The flap extendslengthwise of the body and is outwardly swingable with respect to thebody for engagement through a button hole in one garment portion. A slotis provided in the body for coupling the body with a button on the otherportion of the garment.

Preferably the flap is cut or punched from the body so that theconnection remains integral with the body intermediate the ends of theflap. When the flap is passed through the button hole, the connectionextends through the button hole such that the body is adjacent one sideof the garment material and the flap is adjacent the other side of thegarment material.

Such garment form retaining device has proved very satisfactory in use.However, variations in length of the button hole afiect efiicientutilization of the device.

Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to providean improved garment form retaining device of the above-described typewhich incorporates means for adjusting the length of the connectionbetween the flap and the body, whereby the same device can beefliciently utilized with garments having button holes of varyinglengths.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment form retainingdevice of the type described incorporating means for adjusting thelength of the connection as prescribed above, which device can beeconomically manufactured as a unitary structure.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a garment formretainer in accordance with the above objects which assures properpositioning of the garment form retaining device at all times, and whichfacilitates attachment of the device to the garment.

In order to achieve the aforestated objects, the invention provides forperforating the body of the retainer form along the swinging axis of theelongated integral flap carried by the body and adapted to engage abutton hole on the garment.

The invention will be better understood after considering the followingdetailed description of the invention which refers to the annexeddrawings.

In the drawings:

atent 2,975,948 Patented Mar. 21, 1961 Figure 1 is a perspective view ofthe garment form retainer provided by this invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of a garment having operativelypositioned thereon the garment form retainer shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a detailed perspective View of the end of the retainer shownin Figure 1 which has integrally connected thereto the flap adapted toextend through button holes of varying lengths.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1, the numeral 2 designates agarment form retainer constructed in accordance with the presentinvention. The retainer 2 is formed from an elongated flat body, plateor card 4 which is made of any suitable yieldable but relatively stiffmaterial such as cardboard, flexible plastic, or the like. The body 4 isout along the line 6 whereby an elongated flap 8 is formed. As shown inFigure 3, such flap 8 is swingable outwardly from the body 4 along anaxis 10 defined by the integral connection 12 between the flap 8 andbody 4. The body is provided with perforations 14 which are disposedalong the axis 7 10 so that the length of the connection between flap 8and body 4 can be adjusted merely by tearing the connections 15 betweencut 6 and the perforations.

The body 4 is also provided with a longitudinal slot 16 having anenlarged opening 18 through which a button can be easily inserted ashereinafter explained. Opposite faces of slot 16 abut one another, oneither side of the enlargement 18.

From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that the garmentform retainer 2 can be manufactured by merely cutting the body 4 alongline 6 and the'defining boundaries of slot 16, and perforating the bodypartially along the axis 10 between confronting terminal edges of line6.

The manner in which the invention is applied to a garment is illustratedin Figure 2 wherein a typical coat 20 is shown having overlapping frontportions 22 and 24. longitudinal edge 23 of portion 22, and buttons 28,28 are attached to portion 24 by any suitable means such as by thread,or the like.

Obviously, buttons 28, 28 are positioned to cooperate with button holes26 and 26 respectively when the gar ment is secured on an individual.However, when the form retainer 2 provided by this invention isutilized, one button and the associated button hole cooperate with theretainer as explained below.

When the invention is applied to the garment of Figure 2, the retainer 2is placed between the overlapping portions 22 and 24 and the flap 8 ispassed through the button hole 26 as shown. The length of the connection12 can be adjusted by tearing free either one or both of theperforations 14 shown, so as to make the connection of a lengthcorresponding to the length of the button hole, and so as to facilitatepassage of flap 8 through the button hole.

After the flap 8 is passed through the button hole, the button 28 ispassed through enlargement 18 and the button is pulled forward in slot16 to the position shown in Figure 2. The abutting edges of the slot 16engage the thread securing the button to the garment and hold theretainer in position so that the portion 22 of coat 20 overlaps portion24 thereof.

The provision of perforations along axis It? of the connection 12between flap 8 and body 4 ensures straight tearing of the connection inaddition to providing a means of adjusting the length of the connection.This is particularly important because if such connection is not tornstraight, the retainer will not position itself horizontally so as tomaintain the proper alignment of overlapping portions 22 and 24.

Button holes 26, 26 are disposed adjacent the It is important to notethat perforations 14 are not provided across the entire connection 12but are only provided across part of such connection. This ensures rigidcoupling of flap 8 to the body 4, and allows for adjustment of length ofthe connection without accidental disconnection of the flap entirelyfrom the body.

It is also important to understand that the body 4 is made from amaterial which is sufficiently stiff to properly hold the garment asexplained above, and yet sufficiently yieldable (a) to allow for theswinging of flap from the body of the material, and (b) to allow forsome bending of flap 8, if necessary, to pass that fiap through thebutton hole.

From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that the objects ofthe invention have been successfully achieved. Accordingly, I claim:

A form retainer for a coat garment, said garment having overlappingfront portions with at least one but ton hole on one portion, and atleast one button on the other portion, said retainer comprising anelongated flat body of yieldable material for insertion between theoverlapping front portions of the garment, said body being cut wherebyan elongate flap is coupled to said body by a connection integral withsaid flap and said body, said flap being swingable outwardly from saidbody about an axis defined by said connection, said body havingperforations extending from one end of said coupling along said axis toa point spaced from the other end of said coupling whereby the length ofsaid connection is adjustable by severing the portions of said bodybetween said out and said perforations, said flap being positionedinwardly of an end of said body and adapted for engagement in saidbutton hole, said body also having a longitudinal slot with an parallelto said axis defined by said connection, said slot having one end spacedfrom said flap and the other end spaced from the other end of said body,said slot having an enlarged opening therein spaced from said one end ofsaid slot to facilitate passing a button through said body, said slothaving side edges of said body in engagement therealong on either sideof said enlarged opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

